# What makes a person beautiful to you?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 12, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077 "2022-06-12T18:27:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@IDKittyKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IDKittyKat)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/1 "2022-06-12T18:27:45Z")
Quick reply I personally couldn’t give a shit about how you look. It’s your inside that counts. Personal experience.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/2 "2022-06-12T20:33:28Z")
> [@IDKittyKat](#):
>
> I personally couldn’t give a shit about how you look.
It depends on what you mean by “beautiful.” But, according to one common meaning of the word, “beautiful” _means_ how you look.
Show me some pictures of total strangers, so that I have no idea what they’re like on the inside, and I will almost certainly find some of them more attractive than others. And I might jump to some conclusions about what they’re like inside based on their appearance (their facial expression, how they’re dressed, etc.), though there’s a good chance I’d be wrong.
On the other hand, show me some pictures of people I know fairly well, and I won’t be able to completely separate their appearance from what I know about them as people, and that’s definitely going to influence whether or not I find them “beautiful.”
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/3 "2022-06-12T22:22:23Z")
If you are intending to use a word in a way different from its standard definition, why wouldn’t you tell somebody that ahead of time? Are you planning a trap? If so, why?
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/4 "2022-06-12T22:53:40Z")
> [@](#):
>
> …I personally couldn’t give a shit about how you look. It’s your inside that counts.
from _The Confessions of Jeffrey Dahmer_.
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/5 "2022-06-12T22:59:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > …I personally couldn’t give a shit about how you look. It’s your inside that counts.
>
> from _The Confessions of Jeffrey Dahmer_. -
Talk about opening up to your partner.
---
### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/6 "2022-06-12T22:59:51Z")
This has been somewhat analysed in terms of parameters like facial symmetry, however, I do not think it is completely straightforward, as in not everyone will agree on which faces are the most attractive. Also they will obviously perceive different things if they see how the person moves, acts, and dresses compared to just the mugshots.
ETA for example, an Italian study summarized in wikipedia found that northern Italian adolescents are attractive when they have a larger ratio between the volume of the forehead to the total face, a smaller nasal volume, larger distance between outer canthi, and reduced total facial height and depth. Some features depend on age and sex, e.g. older attractive boys had a smaller facial volume, but attractive girls had a bigger facial volume.
---
### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/7 "2022-06-13T00:08:50Z")
> [@IDKittyKat](#):
>
> I personally couldn’t give a shit about how you look. It’s your inside that counts.
This is the adult version of a Barney The Dinosaur video.
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/8 "2022-06-13T00:15:29Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> Some features depend on age and sex, e.g. **older attractive boys had a smaller facial volume** , but attractive girls had a bigger facial volume. -
I’m sure there are limits.
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/MBhnhyFh.jpg)
😉
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/9 "2022-06-13T01:35:29Z")
The OP is arrant nonsense. “Beautiful” is a term for appearance.
You, any you, can choose to prefer persons of interest on the basis of things other than physical appearance. But “beauty” is the wrong word for those other preference functions.
---
### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/10 "2022-06-13T01:46:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> “Beautiful” is a term for appearance.
>
> You, any you, can choose to prefer persons of interest on the basis of things other than physical appearance. But “beauty” is the wrong word for those other preference functions.
This is nonsense. “Beautiful” is a term for an emotional response to appearance. That response is heavily influenced by factors not actually related to the appearance. How much differs from person to person, and even situation to situation. Trying to restrict it to appearance only goes contrary to normal usage of the word.
---
### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/11 "2022-06-13T03:46:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> “Beautiful” is a term for appearance.
_A Beautiful Mind_ would like to have a word with you.
---
### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/12 "2022-06-13T14:34:40Z")
> [@IDKittyKat](#):
>
> Quick reply I personally couldn’t give a shit about how you look. It’s your inside that counts. Personal experience.
I can’t claim to read your mind, but let me express a bit of skepticism (and I don’t mean this in an attacking way):
IMHO, generally, people who say this, are **still** discriminating on the basis of appearance, they just don’t realize or acknowledge it. You would probably subconsciously still treat a very beautiful person differently than a very ugly person despite whatever their inner personality may be.
I used to think I was the same as what you described, but then one time I dated a woman who had great personality but was simply just too ugly for me to continue the relationship with further. I felt ashamed for feeling that way, but it was just unsustainable. Had I married her, I would have had to pretend, for decades, that her looks didn’t matter (and also put up with the weird looks from bystanders,) and I just couldn’t.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/13 "2022-06-13T14:53:21Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> and also put up with the weird looks from bystanders
Caring whether _you_ find a potential partner physically attractive, and caring whether _other people_ find them physically attractive, are two different things. I can understand the former, but the latter seems shallow to me, as though you’re choosing a partner to impress other people.
---
### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/14 "2022-06-13T15:29:46Z")
There’s a difference between “wanting to impress others” and “not wanting to get stared at by others.”
---
### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2022, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/15 "2022-06-14T05:32:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> as though you’re choosing a partner to impress other people.
Not choosing a partner to impress other people per se, but it sure can be a fun feature.
---
### Author:  [@KeithBruno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithBruno)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/16 "2022-11-05T14:25:07Z")
I personally don’t fall for conventionally beautiful women, but I do have my own preferences.
---
### Author:  [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-person-beautiful-to-you/966077/17 "2022-11-05T18:15:27Z")
Physical beauty is relative for me. I’ve found some women to be more physically attractive after noticing things that I liked about their personalities, and the opposite has happened to me a number of times.
Discovering beauty in a partner is a beautiful thing.
To the OP: sense of humor, fairness, maturity, self-reliance and sociability are high on the list.